Best Enterprise Content Management Software of 2026

Enterprise content management (ECM) systems could very well be the most complex, feature-rich type of business software. These systems have all the complexity of a Swiss watch and, when selected with care, can keep a company's workflows running with the same precision.

As the ways companies use content have changed and grown over time, ECM systems have also adapted and expanded. In fact, they've changed so much that the term itself is now a little outdated. (More on that in the Market Trends to Understand section.)

Despite all that change, the need for content management tools and platforms is stronger than ever before.

Hold on, you might be thinking, why are they making this so complicated? I just need something simple to manage my sales, marketing and service content. If that's the case, you're probably better suited for a simpler content management system or something purpose-built to manage company documents.

However, if you still have your sights set on the most feature-rich system for managing content, then read on! This guide will give you the perspective and understanding you need to move forward with an ECM system purchase. In it we cover:

What Are Enterprise Content Management Software Systems?

Common Features of Enterprise Content Management Software Systems

Market Trends to Understand

What Are Enterprise Content Management Software Systems?

Content includes nearly all of the written information companies use internally and externally. This can range from (internal) process documents, policies and projects to (external) marketing and sales-focused content, content for websites and content only available to paying customers. While content can refer to audio-visual and graphical content, it typically refers to text-based digital content.

ECM systems are designed to manage all of the processes within the content life cycle, from creation and collaboration, revision and review to publication and even promotion. ECM systems contain a variety of tools to assist with each of these stages and typically include centralized reporting and analytics functions to help monitor these processes individually or on the whole.

Example process workflow diagram in DocStar ECM (Source: docstar.com)

Given the great variety of ways companies use and produce content, it's no surprise there's an equally great variety of content management applications. Most of these applications—a selection of which are discussed below in the Common Features of Enterprise Content Management Software Systems section—fall into one of the following general categories:

• Library services: Core ECM functionality, for storing content and making it accessible

• Record services: Records are a subset of content with stricter management policies

• Content creation and capture: Tools to start the life cycle for each piece of content

• Metadata management: Metadata includes information to describe and tag individual content

• Workflow and business process management: Handle the nuts and bolts of collaborative workflows

• Navigation and search: Help users organize, arrange and search for content

• Security and access control: Determine which users have which rights for specific content

• Architecture and integration: Provides integration tools for certain platforms or via an API

Common Features of Enterprise Content Management Software Systems

The following table lists some of the more common features and applications included with ECM systems. Remember that different vendor solutions emphasize different functionality and that this list is by no means comprehensive.

Market Trends to Understand

In 2016, Gartner issued the following statement:

"Content is a critical asset, a source of business insights and a driver of processes. How organizations create, manage, disseminate and exploit their enterprise content has changed in response to external market forces and internal business drivers. To reflect the changing market dynamics, Gartner is retiring the term "enterprise content management" (ECM). We believe that, going forward, the practice of managing content will be enabled as a set of services that coordinate content usage by all parties: users, systems and applications."

Source: "Reinventing ECM: Introducing Content Services Platforms and Applications" (available to Gartner clients)

One of the changing market dynamics Gartner identifies is the fact that many content-related applications and services have expanded their functionality to include functions once solely in the ECM domain. These include file sharing services, business process management and collaboration tools.

If your ECM needs are largely focused in one of these areas, then those links might be the best place to begin your product selection. Of course, you can also skip all of that and just give us a call at (844) 687-6771. After a free consultation, we'll come up with a shortlist of products for you to focus on.